Reflections on Occupation, Cultural Identities and Social Transformation1

Reflections on occupation, cultural identities and social transformation1

Reflexiones sobre ocupación, identidades culturales Reflexión y transformación social

Nick Pollard 2

Recibido: 12 de octubre 2016 • Aceptado: 17 de diciembre 2016 Pollard, N. (2017). Reflections on occupation, cultural identities and social transformation. Revista Ocupación Humana, 17 (1), 39-54.

Abstract When I was so kindly invited to the XVI CCTO conference this past year in Medellin, one of the lasting impressions of that short visit was the folk cultural content, using music and dance, of many of the presentations. This made it a very different experience to other occupational therapy conferences I have attended. The significance of cultures seemed integral to practice, for example with indigenous people and with people living in rural areas, as well as to the positioning of occupational therapy in its historic place within recent Colombian history. What was very different to me as a British person was that these performances involved something that everyone seemed to know and to be able to participate in. The strength of this shared aspect of culture, which may reflect some aspects of the rich variety of traditions in Colombia, was impressive. It led me to reflect on the community focus of human purposeful occupation as the ‘collective doing’ that constitutes culture. This reflective paper will discuss some aspects of occupation and culture as the product of collective doing for the community focus of human purpose. It will consider occupation and culture against the background of the use of occupation for health, and as a basis for socially transformative practices. It will draw on some aspects of Colombian and UK folk cultures and some of the reasons why practitioners might be careful to respect the integrity of these assets, as well as their capacity for innovation, adaptation and change as living culture.

KEY WORDS Occupation, culture, folk music, personal narratives

1 Este artículo se deriva de la video-conferencia preparada por el autor para la jornada “Terapia Ocupacional, cincuenta años transformando conflictos en paz”, realizada por el Colegio Colombiano de Terapia Ocupacional el 4 de noviembre de 2016, en el marco de la celebración del día mundial y el día nacional del terapeuta ocupacional. 2 Terapeuta Ocupacional. Máster en Psiquiatría, Filosofía y Sociedad. Magíster en Terapia Ocupacional. Doctor en Terapia Ocupacional. Profesor Titular Facultad de Salud y Bienestar, Sheffield Hallam University. Sheffield, Reino Unido.

Colegio Colombiano de Terapia Ocupacional 39 RESUMEN Cuando fui invitado con tanta amabilidad al XVI Congreso Colombiano de Terapia Ocupa- cional el año pasado en Medellín, una de las impresiones más fuertes de mi corta visita fue el contenido de folclor cultural, a través del uso de la música y la danza, en muchas de las presentaciones. Esto hizo que fuera una experiencia muy diferente a la de otros congresos a los que he asistido. El significado de las culturas parecía ser una parte integral de la práctica profesional, por ejemplo con comunidades indígenas y con poblaciones en áreas rurales, así como del posicionamiento de la Terapia Ocupacional dentro de la historia colombiana reciente. Lo que resultó muy distinto para mí como británico fue que las manifestaciones de música y danza eran algo que todo el mundo parecía conocer y en lo cual todos podían participar. La fortaleza de este aspecto cultural compartido, el cual refleja algunos de los aspectos de la variedad de tradiciones en Colombia, fue cautivador. Esto me llevó a reflexionar sobre el enfoque comunitario de la ocupación humana con propósito, entendido como el hacer colectivo que constituye la cultura. Este artículo de reflexión discute algunos aspectos de la ocupación y la cultura como producto del hacer colectivo para el propósito humano de la comunidad. Se consideran la ocupación y la cultura en oposición a los antecedentes de uso de la ocupación para la salud, y como fundamento de las prácticas socialmente transformadoras. Se esbozan algunos aspectos de la cultura popular de Colombia y el Reino Unido, y algunas razones por las cuales los profesionales deben ser cuidadosos en respetar su integridad, así como su capacidad para la innovación, la adaptación y el cambio como cultura viva.

PALABRAS CLAVE Ocupación, cultura, música folklórica, narrativas personales

Introduction shing) and the implications this might have for a socially transformative prac- Bonder, Martin and Miracle (2004) tice. Music is a cultural form which is illustrate the significance of understan- often associated with narrative, both ding the nature of culture as something through its structure and through the which is learned, develops over time, lyrical content of the songs it may ac- enables evaluation, and is based and company. It is, amongst other things, transmitted in interaction for occupa- a means of accessing memory, histo- tion based practices. Socially trans- ries and experiences, both personal formative health interventions can be and communal in their significance based in popular cultures such as folk and because of their content and con- song and dance as well as vernacular text, both potentially engaging and li- writing practices. I will consider the- mited and excluding (García, 2014). se practices in relation to the idea of Much of the exploration of music as social movements (which it can be ar- an intervention (and of the arts more gued would be true of some unders- generally) has been from a top down tandings of folk culture and working perspective García (2014). There is a class writing and community publi- need to evaluate these processes and

40 Revista Ocupación Humana • Vol. 17 No. 1 • 2017 • ISSN-e 2590-7816 understand them from a grass roots Ceniza (Mouths of Ash, 2004) has peo- perspective. I will conclude by explo- ple chanting their stories to the camera. ring human libraries as an occupation The performances are full of pain and based means of working with narrati- suffering. These songs, for all the truth ves as a dialogue. they bear, may be very difficult material to work with. They cannot be adopted Hammell (2009) argues that occu- without respect to the performers and pational therapy intervention should some consideration for the experien- be respectful of cultural context, but ces of those who may hear these voi- that the profession makes assumptions ces, especially if they may have been about meaningful activity which have the perpetrators of these outrages. As a not been supported by cultural investi- person who has had no experience of gations. For example, Hong, Heathco- conflict I can hear them both in rela- te and Hibberd (2011) describe many tion to the British folk songs I know of culturally based activities for working disasters, some of which may have eye with older people, but although they witness content in their composition, are set out with plans that take into and the experiences of people I have account clinical considerations, there known who survived second world war is almost no discussion of the cultu- bombing, or episodes of the Northern ral depth identified by Bonder, Mar- Irish conflicts (e.g. Sitzia and Thicke- tin and Miracle (2004). This might be tt, 2002). Practitioners cannot tell in required in eliciting narratives from advance how people will respond to people as the basis for arts or reminis- content and what may cause a person cence. However, from the perspective to reflect on something they were in- of developing writing activities, for volved in previously and react. Occu- example, Goldblatt (2007), Mathieu, pational therapists are often working Parks and Rousculp (2012), Williams, with people who have challenging his- (1996), all describe the significance of tories that cannot be repaired. Clients cultural practices with different com- may also have long term conditions for munities, and set out how to give peo- which there may be no resolution but ple ownership of their creations. to enable people to live well (Pember- ton, 2014). Such interventions need to Other oversights could undermine be capable of sustaining engagement, the use of cultural media for inter- to convey depth and meaning, to offer vention. García (2014) warns against aspects of ownership of participation. a naive application of music genres in Colombian reconciliation projects. She points to the simplistic associa- Culture and community tion of music with healing, whereas it can have complex content and as- The history of folk and vernacular sociations, especially if it has been culture in the UK is different to that of harnessed to political objectives, or Colombia or of other countries in many expresses the perspectives of victims. respects. Although the relative socioe- The powerful work of victims of the conomic differences are significant the Colombian conflict revealed by Juan historical relationships between UK Manuel Echavarría in his film Bocas de cultures, particularly English culture,

Colegio Colombiano de Terapia Ocupacional 41 and the legacy of imperialism are also shing groups and writing workshops sources of political tensions. These re- to which I belonged had a similar feel. lationships are complex. They contain Such performances, whether of origi- popular elements which belong to obs- nal material or well known songs have cure and sometimes reinvented tradi- an intimacy, often there is no techno- tions that have been used to exemplify logy involved, for no microphones are nationalist perspectives (Spracklen and needed, and as regular events in the Henderson, 2013; Palmer Heathman, calendar of performance they become 2016), but they can also be interpre- part of a community of narratives. ted in progressive ways (Bose, 2004; Rappaport, 2004). Some communities in Colombia have developed musical Intimacy and exchange expression in a way intended to shape and express their identity in resistance The ability to make performances to conflict through narrative vehicles personal, the situation of folk song or such as rap or vallenato (García, 2014). any other medium in a wider narrative (even if this is partly imagined and It is important to first make a con- idealised, as will be explored) is a key nection between culture and commu- part of culture. This personal exchan- nity. Hield’s (2010) discussion of the ge of narrative is an important aspect ‘folk community’ in England describes of human connection, of building ra- activities carried out in a community pport, and I will return to this later in defined by its shared interests, rather the article. In each of these communi- than a geographical location. She re- ties of exchange, whether they involve fers to Bauman’s (2001) suggestion that performances of song, poems or sto- ‘community’, even in the present, re- ries, people might have the sense of lates to an imagined community of a browsing through the contents of a hu- rather indefinite past. Hield (2010) man library. The Human Library (Little argues that the community of folk mu- et al 2011; Little and Abergel, 2013) is sic is bounded “through the practice itself an approach to generating com- of singing an elusive body of songs munity and managing differences in on which they [the singers] have pla- a way which might address some of ced significance” (p.52). It is through García’s (2014) concerns, but first it this repertoire of folk music that these is worth exploring how narratives that people seem to base their identity and might be contained in such exchanges sense of belonging to a community. It are linked to some traditional elements is a preference with which they iden- of culture. tify, rather than the folk music being a product of their identity. Often they All of these processes, the folk mu- are floor singers, contributing their sic event, a writing workshop or com- few minutes of song to an evening of munity publishing performance, and performance, or perhaps organisers of Human Libraries suggest a democratic a ‘session’ in a pub with a small au- intimacy. This is important to commu- dience (Hield, 2010). I have sometimes nity, even if these activities will actua- taken part in such gatherings, and the lly depend on some people being com- performances by community publi- mitted to the organisation of them, and

42 Revista Ocupación Humana • Vol. 17 No. 1 • 2017 • ISSN-e 2590-7816 may operate complex rules in order regular members value as an essential to be sustainable (Hield 2010). Those component of their everyday lives, and areas of culture which are materially so operate some rules to preserve their established in technologies and com- community. mercial organisations are discussed by Burgess (2006) as having become not more democratic, but demotic. There Application and consciousness are however, many low-tech cultural expressions which circumvent some Folk music and dance have been of the consumer market processes but employed in occupational therapy few areas of cultural expression are practice (e.g. Connor, 2000; Heathco- fully independent of some element of te and Hong, 2009) and participation mainstream technology, dissemination in traditional music has been a topic or distribution. The control of the pro- of research for occupational scientists cesses of dissemination, editing, and (Adrian, 2013). The Anglophone litera- aspects of performance are manipula- ture is quite sparse, but dates back to ted by the owners of the media throu- the 1950s (Wittkower and La Tendresse, gh which they are distributed. On-line 1955). Spanish language sources indi- game players are invited to develop cate some application of these forms, content but along the lines determined for example teaching flamenco, (De by the media owners. Burgess (2006) Las Heras, 2009); and ethnographic gives digital storytelling as an example investigation of music as socially and of the ways in which individuals can occupationally important component produce their own narratives and forms in the lives of indigenous communities of expression. She points out that digi- (Arango-Peláez, Nieto-Martin, and Rin- tal stories contain elements of intima- cón-González, 2013). As Hammell su- cy even though they employ common ggests (2009), there has been little con- themes, and are specifically individual cern with the cultural content of these acts of communication, but even these media in the application of music and are limited and controlled in their dis- the arts in occupational therapy, the tribution to an audience since they are focus has been on the clinical aspects accessed through digital storytelling si- of intervention. For these approaches tes. Similarly, in the UK, folk music has to be useful in leading to sustainable become a particular interest of a com- changes, it is important to understand munity of people. They are inclusive, them in their context, give some proper but operate various clubs or ‘sessions’ consideration to the significance folk which have rules for performance, be- music and culture may have for com- haviour, and even content, although munities and groups, and to respect there may be a range of ways in which the knowledge and tradition that may personal significance can be expressed be being conveyed with them. Whether (Hield, 2010). Hield’s study suggests cultural media are to be used as part that the locality of some of these au- of a social intervention, or for clini- diences may be an aspect of belon- cal work, a concern with authenticity ging to a folk music community, their applies whoever the practitioner is wor- regularity and the communal feeling king with, whether indigenous people, of participation something that their or residents in a nursing home.

Colegio Colombiano de Terapia Ocupacional 43 Thus Ramirez and Schliebener merely component behaviours. Thus, (2009) have argued the need to arti- since people communicate by doing, culate an occupational consciousness develop tools for learning and commu- which is located in the specific reali- nication and have a community focus ties of everyday life reflected in a La- to everything they do, the implication tin American cultural context. Dehays, of this is that there are many elements Hitchin and Vidal (2012) have argued which make up activity. Foot (2001; this necessity in relation to practice 2014) describes how CHAT takes ac- centred in occupational justice, for count of the ways in which experien- example in meeting the needs of young ces were felt and embodied by people. mothers with learning difficulties and The mediation of experience occurs in facilitating the social inclusion of both communities through such tools as lan- them and their children; Castro (2012) guage, and ultimately forms of cultural in relation to constructing life stories expression. CHAT offers a means of sys- with psychiatric service users and Mu- tematically and critically understanding ñoz (2013) in wellness working with the relationship between culture and a older adults. A feature of such studies practice like occupational therapy, and is the identification and the establish- the kinds of practices which evolve in ment of connections with communities specific interest communities such as with complex needs arising from socio- those involved in folk music in the UK. historical, economic and geographical For occupational therapists a simplistic factors. For example, Zerda (2004) has application of an activity such as wri- pointed out that many older people in ting (Pollard, 2004) towards a therapeu- Latin American communities are remo- tic outcome may ignore other important te from and unable to access services elements it may have in the mediation such as occupational therapy. Cultural of experiences. CHAT is a vehicle for vehicles are an important means for exploring the dialogical contradictions sustaining engagement and overcoming and tensions which might arise in the some of the obstacles for other clini- use of a cultural form such as music or cal interventions which arise from the dance in a clinical activity system. In needs and conditions for which occu- particular, it offers the potential – since pational therapists might be expected an outcome for this use is likely to be to find solutions. the production of change – to consider future developments from a perspective Recognising these broader issues of evolution over time. These conside- has not been part of the training of oc- rations are important if practitioners are cupational therapists, but other profes- to examine how an object like music sional groups such as social work are can be employed as an activity, and beginning to explore lenses such as cul- what their roles may be in implemen- tural-history activity theory (CHAT) to ting it (Foot, 2014). link practice issues to a complex social perspective (Foot, 2001; 2014). CHAT considers humans as acting collecti- Organic process vely, co-operating in an “activity system” (Foot, 2014), a term which refers Although these considerations are to an entire and complex process, not significant, here I specifically want to

44 Revista Ocupación Humana • Vol. 17 No. 1 • 2017 • ISSN-e 2590-7816 discuss the organic elements of the folk ple the intellectuals are working with process in relation to personally signifi- are not themselves capable of objec- cant occupation. A person who adapts tifying and critiquing their experien- their own version of a folk song is doing ces. It would be inadvisable to retain something that is a natural part of this this perspective to working with any organic process, for example the adap- group, as Mathieu, Parks and Rousculp tation of content or performance to au- (2012) indicate in regard to community diences and purposes in the experience publishing. Goldblatt (2007) describes of the singer. As Hield (2010) describes, how getting this wrong can produce a song can become locally acknowle- some difficult reactions from commu- dged as the property of certain singers nity members, requiring some work to through a process of making it their own re-establish trust. Indigenous perspecti- through rehearsal and performance in ves of the real world are apt to require community spaces. Eyerman (2002) ex- a committed understanding, not just in plores how traditional forms became terms of language, but across a whole adapted through several stages and ge- life perspective (Rappaport, 2004). Cul- nerations to their eventual use in the US tural forms such as music are an impor- Black civil rights movement. Drawing tant part of social transformational pro- on such a body of traditional knowled- cesses, and folk music has long been a ge that is historically possessed by the vehicle for articulating critical, alterna- people is a source of strength. It enables tive or as in the example of Spencer the a process through which “organic inte- Rover below, marginal perspectives. llectual” (Rappoport, 2004, p.113) in- This kind of work however soon reveals teractions can occur with other groups a host of issues where a vernacular of “new intellectuals” working for what culture meets with would-be agents of Gramsci (1971) called “the political so- change and their attempts at transfor- ciety” or the “civil society” (p.12). New mation. The organisation, development intellectuals were both carrying out the and sustainability of these arrange- functions required by civil society but ments requires negotiation with the ow- at the same time enabled to take a criti- ners of some of the spaces. The formal cal distance because of their mediating skills of communication, appropriate position. The deliverers of occupatio- presentation and financial accounting nal therapy, for example continue the may be less familiar to the people who- functions of hegemonic structures, like se cultural traditions are to be the ve- health and care systems, but are also hicles for a new critical tradition. The responding to the experiences of peo- power relations which result from some ple to whom that care is delivered. In a people having these abilities and others similar way, perhaps, Peloquin (2010) not having them can be a source of sus- points to the ethology of occupational picion and hostility, especially where therapy, which is a set of guiding beliefs it may be necessary to employ people based in needs generated by, but also to organise the work instead of rel- be a sense of commitment to the real ying on volunteers. As Woodin (2007) world. found with working class writing and community publishing, there can be a A limitation of Gramsci’s (1971) suspicion of middle class people taking thinking is that it assumes that the peo- over the creative work of working class

Colegio Colombiano de Terapia Ocupacional 45 members and exploiting it for their experience of transition, and this is a own interests or as Bose (2004) argues, common element in the experiential of intellectuals putting their arguments and autobiographical nature of wor- into others’ voices, raising questions king class writing (Ragon, 1986; Vin- of legitimacy and supplantation (Eyer- cent, 1981). Ragon, writing about the man, 2002). emergence of a proletarian literature in France during the late 18th and 19th centuries, explains how it was Tradition and invention stimulated directly by the experiences of industrialisation and an increasing English culture is imbued with confidence amongst some workers, many years of tradition, but often but also experiences of poverty and what is conveyed as emblematic of the disenfranchisement. These are issues country are the associations with elite with which much folk song may have pomp and ceremony, much of which affinity - although the authorship of was actually invented to establish a Bri- many traditional songs is uncertain. tish identity in the 19th and 20th cen- The theme of returning home frequent- tury (Cannadine, 1983). Much of the ly recurs in folk song and narratives traditional culture of the ordinary peo- and is an evocation of the idea of life ple was not static or fixed either. Folk as a journey. music collections such as that edited by Hall (1998) indicate a considerable Spencer The Rover “who had tra- range of form and style, but centuries velled Great Britain and most parts of of intermingling has obscured many of Wales” (Pollard, 1969, p.67) is a wi- the origins. Although there are not the dely recorded English ballad, a song enormous varieties of indigenous form that tells a story (Roud, 2011). Spen- and tradition represented in Colombia cer’s story of transition and change (Gil, 2011), Hield (2010) and Cressy may originate during the early 1800s, (2004) suggest a pattern of continuing perhaps associated with having been reinvention largely transmitted ora- discharged from the army, or losing a lly and through performance. English job at one of the new factories in Yor- folk music, morris dancing and carol kshire. These circumstances may have singing traditions continue amongst resulted in his alienation, mental dis- some communities, but the relations- tress, resolution and reconciliation, hip between the singing and a wider described as “been so reduced which everyday culture suggested by the term caused great confusion/ And that was ‘traditional’ refers to an idealised past the reason he went on the roam”, es- (Hield 2010). tranged from his wife and children. The song’s outcome as he arrives home Folk music is rooted in the expe- and is nonetheless accepted by his fa- rience of the communities to which it mily again is almost biblical, like the belongs and the expression of occu- tale of the prodigal son, which in some pational narratives. One of the most respects it resembles in that Spencer common themes of that expression is forgiven by his family for wasting concerns change. Folk music often re- his wealth, and recognises that rela- cords journeys or the more personal tionships have more significance than

46 Revista Ocupación Humana • Vol. 17 No. 1 • 2017 • ISSN-e 2590-7816 material wealth. It is a personal favou- perdiversity (Vertovec, 2007) of con- rite - my father often sang snatches, temporary UK society. Interest in folk having learned it from a record, and cultures has undergone several revi- included it in a compilation of British vals since the end of the 19th century. folk songs for schools which he publi- Some have tended to interpret folk mu- shed in the 1960s, but it seems like an sic in terms that serve the more con- actual testimony. Spencer the Rover temporary or idiosyncratic interests is from a time which, despite increa- of the revivers (Brocken, 2003). Engli- sing industrialisation, was more rural, sh folk music, for example has been one in which it was more possible and adopted as emblematic of a nationa- even acceptable to ‘go on the roam’ listic expression by some folk music and live as a vagabond seeking work revivalists. Some 1920s and 1930s as you found it, during the early era collectors tried to reclaim traditional of industrialisation, when many people song and dance forms for a far right were moving to the cities in search of perspective of ‘whiteness’ and a ro- work. It would be much more difficult bust and rural Englishness, sometimes to do today. Today’s Spencer would be combined with an esoteric associa- asked to move on. tion with ‘white magic’ (Spracklen & Henderson, 2013; Palmer Heathman, Spencer the Rover offers a rather id- 2016). This, and a popular portrayal yllic and romantic transformation from of folk music enthusiasts as obsessi- the troubled destitute to the accepted ve and marginal rejectors of the mo- and contented family man. In some dern world, remains a hindrance to ways it sums up one of the beliefs be- the acceptability of traditional English hind much cultural intervention that in folk expression. The need to emphasi- some way, if a basis of communal ex- se English here is because there are a pression can be discovered, a utopian number of different folk traditions in community and felicity will result, as Britain, Scots, Gaelic, Welsh, and Irish in former times. The historical evi- as well as English, with regional varia- dence is much more troubled as even tions and a large amount of shared ma- Spencer indicates. Others in the wider terial. Distinctive rhythms, melodies traditional folk canon, (e.g. Hall 1998; and content are evident, but there has Roud, 2011) describe transportation, – perhaps for the reasons described – poverty, a wide range of crime, poor been a tendency for a popularised Irish and harsh working conditions and the folk in particular, despite its’ someti- forced conscription being some of the mes romantically couched nationalist dangers experienced by working peo- and sectarian lyrics, to be heard more ple, as well as exposure to disaster and often than English traditional song, other extremes not far away from the even in England (Smyth, 2004), a phe- voices explored by García (2014) or nomenon that may have developed Echavarría (2004). through the music sessions of emigrant Irish musicians in London in the 1950s The conservative elements of Engli- (Kearney, 2007). This tradition survives sh folk music can make it a contested in the Irish pubs of Sheffield for exam- aspect of British culture and it remains ple, but has reached out to the world. a difficult vehicle to employ in the su-

Colegio Colombiano de Terapia Ocupacional 47 Songs for social transformation tedness is essential both to identifying change processes, and for the use of Palmer Heathman (2016) argues recognisable forms and structures as that the ideas of social transformation a medium. These cannot be authenti- which were also represented in these cally adapted without respect to their movements were nonetheless based in contexts, otherwise it is merely exploi- an appeal to the past which could ena- tative. For folk music there remains a ble a utopian and communitarian fu- living tradition, as will be explored ture. She argues that folk revivals also later, but living traditions now have aimed at generating a common bond an uneasy relationship with the com- between people inspired by the love mercially driven forces which not only of nation, a point that Kearney (2007) record and interpret them, but introdu- also makes in relation to a less forma- ce new or imitative material into the lised Irish emigrant tradition. A future repertoire. depends on roots to come to life, and these roots were in tradition, nationa- lity and community, indeed as Arango Social movements and Peláez, Nieto Martin, and Rincón Gon- cultural practices zález, (2013) point out in their study of the Muisca people, music is used to Both Brocken (2003) and Gil celebrate the unity between a people, (2011) suggest that change and global their environment and their cosmos. influences have been a key factor in Although some of these connections the development of folk music. The may be obscure in the urbanised Bri- spread of some songs, rhythms and tish uses of folk music, these roots can forms suggests that they are not fixed still be celebrated in common spaces but the products of social changes. In with the purpose of creating com- the UK there has been some resistance munity (Hield, 2010; Spracklen and to foreign and commercial influence Henderson, 2013; Palmer Heathman, resulting in what Hall (1998, p5) ca- 2016), just as in Colombia (Gil, 2011). lled “cultural moralism”, an alienating insistence on a fixed traditionalism These community spaces are them- (Brocken, 2003). These tensions are selves the spaces of considerable chan- part of a process in which change pro- ge and global influence (Gil, 2011). cesses are linked to social movements, Given the diversity of Colombian mu- especially where they have a creative sic traditions, his emphasis is on the and cultural purpose around gene- enjoyment and appreciation of their rating a collective identity (Melucci, variety and the new possibilities they 1985; Martin, 2002). Naturally such present rather than being bound to tra- new formulations of collective identi- dition. This is certainly my personal ty are both complex and fragile social experience of British folk performan- assemblages requiring their adherents ce in pubs, and perhaps of many per- to restate and define them in order to formers, but it may still rankle in the keep them going, such as the cultural organisations which favour traditional moralism which certainly shaped my music over innovation (Hield, 2010; interest in music. While other 1960’s Spracklen and Henderson, 2013). Roo- kids grew up with the Beatles and Mo-

48 Revista Ocupación Humana • Vol. 17 No. 1 • 2017 • ISSN-e 2590-7816 town; I grew up with the traditional Human libraries folk music of the Watersons (e.g. 1965) and Shirley Collins (e.g.1967). In the This aspect of the discovery of primary school music lessons in which new cultural possibilities and the ac- we learned folk songs I was disappoin- ceptance and interest in diversity has ted that we were expected to perform been significant to other movements them with a conventional harmony, around cultural expression. The UK’s instead of the natural, sometimes deli- community publishing movement was berately ‘natural’, voices I was used to about the celebration of localities and hearing on Dad’s record player. the discovery of the cultures and the history within them, which took pla- This kind of music is occasiona- ce in spaces such as community halls, lly still performed in pubs, alongside pubs and bookshops (Morley and more popular tunes which have been Worpole, 2009). democratically adopted into a folk repertoire. ‘Folk’ defies easy catego- A more recent development which risation (Hield, 2010). As Gil (2011) draws on the narratives of ordinary argues regarding Colombia, and Hield people is the Human Library. This dia- suggests for England (2010), the va- logical approach has not been addres- riety of traditions available through a sed in occupational therapy literature, globalised musical context invites the although some public libraries have young to experiment, and the older ge- developed projects around commu- nerations to recoil at the dissonance. nity interventions. Little et al (2011) and Little and Abergel (2013) des- Folk music is eclectic, it is all cribe the Human Library as a means about variation. Multiple versions of by which human ‘books’ can be bo- songs exist, including some songs that rrowed by readers for short periods of appear to be mash-ups of standard ver- time. The books can have titles such as ses. The same words may be shared in ‘drug addict’, ‘asylum seeker’ or ‘tra- different lyrics, and other songs may ffic warden’, but these must be simple be sung to different tunes. Like some and convey the principal experien- folk tales, some folk songs have trave- ce about which they are prepared to lled around the world. Everyone who interact with readers. The process of sings a song must be able to keep it ‘borrowing’ is mediated by a ‘libra- alive through their own interpretation rian’, ‘matchmakers’ who match the (Hield 2010), something my father ca- books to readers and library assistants lled “the folk process” (Pollard, 1969). who explain the functioning of the li- This changing, adaption and reinven- brary to would-be readers. Books are tion of the content itself as a social ac- allocated to readers, but both can ask tion (Eyerman, 2002; Gil, 2011), which each other questions. People can learn in addition to the action of singing and about each other through conversa- performing, is an important cultural tion, the aim being to share perspecti- aspect of occupation (Guajardo and ves and personal experiences, become Mondaca, 2016) and the expression of aware of and to overcome prejudices the everyday, of important life events, and stereotypes the participants may and the experience of change. hold. Human libraries offer interaction

Colegio Colombiano de Terapia Ocupacional 49 through dialogues rather than stories, purpose of generating a wider perspec- which may go some way to offsetting tive of potential information sources the concerns expressed by García amongst students, and can be a precur- (2014) in relation to the narrative con- sor to other stakeholder processes in the tent, but may not be applicable to some development of community projects. A situations for example where people considerable advantage of this dialogic have recently experienced traumatic approach is that people do not have to events. Human library events can be be able to read or write nor do they attached to occasions such as rock fes- need an excellent command of langua- tivals or youth congresses, or associa- ge. They require the will to share and ted with community events. Garbutt, exchange authentic experiences. One (2016) describes the organisation of of my colleagues is organising human human libraries in association with a library events with local mental health heightened nationalism in Australia users and carers around the Lincolnshi- around conflict in Afghanistan. There re town of Sleaford. She has found that are no themes, library events are not such groups may need to adapt certain organised around single issues, groups parts of the process, for example, being or ideologies; the approach allows an- a book for 15 minutes rather than the yone who may experience prejudice to 30 suggested in the guidelines ensures take part as a book long as they are a sufficient exchange without running prepared to share their experiences out of conversation. Books may need to with a reader. The emphasis is on in- rest between borrowings, and frequent clusion over exclusion, but requires a breaks increase the opportunities for capacity to share, to challenge preju- networking. However, trying to estima- dices and to be challenged, and the- te how many people will participate refore needs to be situated in a public in such an event, which is circulated spaces which allow multiple discus- by word of mouth and low cost disse- sions to take place. mination methods, is unpredictable. A planned flexibility is necessary, books’ Goebel (2011) reports that it is and readers’ roles may need to be ex- important to have an orientation ses- changed so that everyone participates sion for the people who volunteer to in a number of ways. Managing such be books so that they can manage and an event requires a commitment to an rehearse the narratives they will tell uncertain but organic process. It is an of their experiences more effectively. adventure, an exploration, the process It may be the first time they have re- itself requires an element of positive counted them and though they can risk taking, and of trust. It may reveal refuse questions, these may take an organic intellectuals in the community. unexpected turn. Little, Nemutlu, Ma- gic & Molnár (2011) make it clear that the methodology of the Human Library Conclusion has to be carefully followed and this is important for the safety of participants. Culture can be seen as the expression or product of collective doing as Human library events have been or- an outcome of the community focus of ganised in educational settings with the human purpose. Where occupational

50 Revista Ocupación Humana • Vol. 17 No. 1 • 2017 • ISSN-e 2590-7816 interventions are being developed to test in Asia, Africa, and Latin America promote for health it can be important (pp.133-157). Cambridge: Cambridge that they are authentic to the experien- University Press. ces of the people they involve, especially that they seem real where they Brocken, M. (2003). The British Folk Revi- are to be allied to socially transforma- val: 1944–2002. Aldershot: Ashgate. tive practices, but not so much that they are restrictive. Colombian and Burgess, J. (2006). Hearing ordinary voices: UK folk cultures are distinctive, but it Cultural studies, vernacular creativi- is important to appreciate the content ty and digital storytelling. Continuum, and the integrity of these forms, as well 20(2), 201-214. as their capacity for innovation, adaptation and change as living culture. Cannadine, D. (1983). The context, performance and meaning of ritual: The British monarch and the ‘invention of References tradition 1820-1977. En E. Hobsbawm (ed.) The invention of tradition (pp.101- Adrian, A. (2013). An Exploration of Luthe- 164). Cambridge: Cambridge Universi- ran Music-Making among US Immi- ty Press. grant and Refugee Populations. Journal of Occupational Science, 20 (2), 160- Castro, L.R. (2012). Construcción de histo- 172. rias de vida: una evaluación narrativa para la intervención de terapia ocupa- Arango Peláez, J.A., Nieto Martin, J.O. & cional en personas con discapacidad Rincón González, F.A. (2013). Trans- psiquiátrica. Revista electrónica de Te- formación ocupacional en hombres y rapia Ocupacional Galicia, TOG, (16), reconocimiento de la memoria indíge- 11-11. na muisca “Cabildo de Bosa” (Tesis de pregrado). Bogotá: Universidad Nacio- Collins, S. (1967). The sweet primeroses. nal de Colombia. London: Topic Records.

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